Lonely Hearts
by Sorceress Starya
Summary: Just a short, cute piece for Valentine's Day. Gojyo and Hakkai play a game of cards and reflection upon being alone. Rated for some insinuations towards the Gojyo x Hakkai coupling and one minor sexual comment. And the end is up for interpretation.


Lonely Hearts By Starya  
  
Just a quick note with the symbolism of the cards. The 10 of Hearts means isolation, and the Ace of Hearts means love. It's just something taken from fortune telling with a normal deck of playing cards. Thought it would be cute.  
  
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"Deuces are wild."  
  
"Very well than..."  
  
The soft shuffle of cards covered the comfortable silence between them. The smell of Gojyo's cigarette smoke set the atmosphere. It seemed sleep was long in coming to the two youkai who sat on the floor of their room, both beds untouched.  
  
"Here we go..."  
  
Goyjo whispered the words to himself rather than his companion as he started to deal the game. Five cards each. He placed the rest of the deck on the floor and picked up his cards. Both men fanned their hand out, neither of their faces betrayed what kind of hand they had. Not like it mattered if he did, Gojyo thought to himself, Hakkai always won anyway.  
  
After a moment of that comfortable silence, Hakkai pulled two cards out of his hand and placed them on the floor in front of him, a small smile on his face like usual. "Two, please.."  
  
Gojyo glanced at his friend and nodded slightly. He slipped the green-eyed man two cards and took three for himself. His brow wrinkled slightly as he looked at his cards, pretty sure that Hakkai had a much better hand than his own. With a frustrated sigh, Gojyo dropped his cards down on the floor.  
  
"I have absolutely nothing."  
  
"Two of a kind.."  
  
Hakkai smiled as he placed his own cards on the floor and revealed his hand -- Two Kings and two fives, both black. The single red card stuck out quite a bit. Gojyo was expecting to lose, but at least he wasn't beaten too badly.  
  
"Only two of a kind? That ten of hearts looks kinda lonely."  
  
Gojyo smirked slightly at the sight of Hakkai's hand. Even though he had lost, there was something very amusing about the cards. Four black cards of death, one lonely red card of love. Story of their lives, it seemed. Hakkai seemed to catch the symbolism of his cards as well as his smile faded a bit.  
  
"Well, the heart is usually lonely."  
  
"It doesn't have to be."  
  
Gojyo glanced away from Hakkai as he spoke. The red haired youkai picked up his cigarettes and fished a fresh one out. With the unlit cigarette in place between his lips, the Kappa searched through his pockets for a light as he spoke again.  
  
"How can someone be lonely when they're on a crazy journey with three other less-than-stable guys?"  
  
Hakkai chuckled softly as he sighted Gojyo's lighter -- Resting on a table where it must had been abandoned before they started the game. The emerald eyed man stood up and walked over to the table. Gojyo watched him as he moved, one brow quirked slightly. Hakkai picked up the lighter and turned back to face Gojyo, with that smile still upon his face.  
  
"Just because you're with other people doesn't mean you're not lonely."  
  
His eyes drifted down to the lighter as he absently turned it over and over in his hand. Gojyo continued to watch him silently, the unlit cigarette still between his lips.  
  
"Just being around other people doesn't end your loneliness. It takes more than that..."  
  
Gojyo stood up from his place on the floor and diminished the distance between himself and Hakkai with a few steps. He placed his hand over the one that had the lighter, his voice gentle as he spoke.  
  
"What does it take than?"  
  
Hakkai looked up at his friend, green eyes wide with surprise for a moment before his mask fell back into place. He couldn't fool Gojyo though -- a touch of sadness was still evident in his eyes. Slowly, he pulled his hand out of Gojyo's, the lighter remaining.  
  
"I.. I'm not sure. Maybe I'll figure that out one of these days."  
  
"Well, when you do, let me know."  
  
The crimson-eyed youkai sighed as he lit his cigarette. He sat back down on the floor and picked up the abandoned deck of cards. He shuffled through them as he spoke, a slight grin on his face.  
  
"Maybe one lonely heart just needs to find another and drag it to bed. That'll get rid of the loneliness."  
  
Hakkai chucked once again and sat down on the floor as well, opposite of Gojyo.  
  
"I think that's your answer to everything, not just loneliness."  
  
"Maybe, but it works."  
  
Gojyo grinned as he stopped shuffling through the deck. He pulled out two cards and tossed them onto Hakkai's Ten of Hearts. Hakkai looked down and saw now there were two Tens of Hearts and one Ace of Hearts on the pile. He smiled softly as he broke the silence.  
  
"I wouldn't know..."  
  
"Guess I'll just have to show you, huh?"  
  
Gojyo continued to grin as he looked at Hakkai, who in return met his gaze with a small smile of his own.  
  
"Guess so."  
  
~fin~  
  
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Very short and cute. I wasn't looking to write anything long, just something sweet for Valentine's Day. Hope you guys enjoyed. ^_^ Happy Valentine's Day. - Starya 


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